Alcohol Abuse Advice

What You Need to Know Before You Quit Drinking

When you have a drinking problem, the answer lies within you to fix it. In order to obtain any help to quit drinking, you first have to admit that you do have a drinking problem. There are now a number of treatments available to alcoholics, but going in for such treatment is a waste of time, unless you first take responsibility for your drinking and the problems it has caused you in your life.

There are two things that you need to bear in mind when you first accept that you have a problem, a) you can’t do it alone, as soon as you know there’s a problem you should find your nearest Alcoholics Anonymous group, or speak to your GP who can put you in touch with a support group; b)giving up alcohol is not a walk in the park, apart from the cravings, there are other adverse physical effects that vary depending on how long you have had the problem.

If your drinking has been long term, then you should not attempt to quit without medical help and advice, as it could be fatal as it would be if you just kept on drinking.

Many drinkers and their families have little or no understanding of how difficult it can be to give up drinking. Heavy drinking may be a life choice, but if the drinking is uncontrollable then you have probably fallen victim to the disease of alcoholism.

One of the problems in modern society is that we tend to confuse heavy drinking with alcoholism, and they are not the same thing. If you are an alcoholic and you try to quitgo “cold turkey” it can cause internal bleeding, convulsions, hallucinations and problems with your heart and blood pressure.

People who have been an alcoholic for a number of years should seek medical help if they are determined to give up the drinking. Your doctor may suggest that you go into a specific hospital for detox which (detoxification i.e. removing the poison from your body) this is necessary because alcohol is a poison to an alcoholic.

You will still get the withdrawal symptoms in the hospital, and these vary from person to person, but you will have help at hand. Medically supervised detox is far safer than individual detox without professional help.

When you give up drinking it can leave a big hole in your life and so you need to find something you enjoy to occupy the time and keep your mind off of drinking. Whether you choose to go fishing or prefer to sit on the couch for hours with a Play Station, is immaterial, providing you find something to do.

You also need a group or a friend in the same situation who will share your journey and understands exactly how you are feeling and why it’s so hard for an alcoholic to stop drinking.

There is one particular drug which does not yet have FDA approval, but has proved quite effective in clinical trials and it’s 28% more successful than other drugs in increasing the amount of dry days. Alcoholics, who may have been drinking for years, do far better with the aid of drugs, than they do without that help.

Alcoholics Anonymous has been very successful in helping alcoholics to give up drinking one day at a time. There is no doubt that a support group is of immense help when people are trying to stop drinking, and many recovering alcoholics swear by the effectiveness of the AA twelve step program in their recovery.

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